Browsing by Autor "Amira F. Ainis"

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The Antiquity of Pearling in the Americas: Pearl Modification Beginning at Least 8,500 Years Ago in Baja California Sur, México
(Cambridge University Press, 2019) Amira F. Ainis; Harumi Fujita; René L. Vellanoweth
AMS radiocarbon dating of two modified pearls from the Covacha Babisuri site, Espíritu Santo Island, Baja California Sur, México, corroborates associated midden dates suggesting that traditional indigenous use and modification of pearls as items of adornment began at least 8,500 years ago. To our knowledge, these are the oldest modified pearls found in dated archaeological contexts anywhere in the world. The presence of similarly modified pearls in later components at Covacha Babisuri suggests that this custom continued throughout the Middle Holocene, and ethnohistoric accounts indicate that similar modifications of pearls continued up until the Historic Era. These data show a long history of cultural continuity in the region in pearl harvesting, modification, and use as adornment.
Traditions of Early Human Groups in Baja California and Possible Routes for the Peopling of the Peninsula
(Brigham Young University Press, 2018) Harumi Fujita; Amira F. Ainis
Ideas concerning the initial peopling of the Baja California Peninsula have dramatically changed in recent decades. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the native inhabitants of the southern part of the Baja California Peninsula were believed by some to have come from Melanesia, based on the perceived similarity in skull morphology. Since the middle of the 20th century, most researchers propose that initial populations entered from the north by land, bringing with them 2 distinct cultural traditions. The first wave was thought to have been an incursion of Paleoindians with Clovis-type fluted points. The second wave refers to groups who occupied ancient lake shores, such as Laguna Seca Chapala, and who were considered as belonging to the Western Pluvial Lakes (WPL) tradition. Eventually people moved down to the southern tip of the peninsula, pushed by subsequent groups. The entry of human groups from the Mexican mainland across the islands in the central Gulf of California has also been suggested; early entries by other groups have been proposed as well. A migration from Australia to the Cape Region across the southern Pacific has also been argued. This paper summarizes recent archaeological evidence from radiocarbon dates, geomorphological settings, subsistence strategies, and material types and technologies indicating that Paleocoastal migrants may have reached the Cape Region during the Terminal Pleistocene. However, some of the early lithic artifacts and technologies in the Cape Region show similarities to the WPL tradition, such as leaf-shaped points, an eccentric crescent, and end and side scrapers. This evidence suggests that perhaps a Paleocoastal group and a WPL group reached the southern part of the peninsula at around the same time and that they had some kind of interrelation that is reflected in their lifestyles and materials, which were principally adapted to coastal life.